MALTON SCHOOL 1989 - 2006 PAGE 1 During this period, the school, along with its fellows in the rest of the country, was subjected to more government-imposed changes than at any time in previous years. The pace of change was relentless, and initiative overload would be a common complaint across the teaching profession. The changes started with the National Curriculum, introduced in the education act of 1988. It defined a common curriculum for all students, who must study English, maths, science, art, information technology, history, geography, music, design technology, physical education, and PSHE (personal social and health education.) The act also re-defined what year groups were to be called. First years became ‘year 7’, fifth years ‘year 11’. As so often is the case in Britain, consistency did not prevail, so lower and upper sixth formers became years 12 and 13, but were still referred to as the sixth form. Education was split into four key stages. Key Stage 1: Years 1 to 2 (5-7 years old) Key Stage 2: Years 3 to 6 (7-11 years old) Key Stage 3: Years 7 to 9 (11-14 years old) Key Stage 4: Years 10 to 11 (14-16 years old). Again for some inexplicable reason, six stages were not created: key stage 0 is often unofficially used to describe nursery and reception, and key stage 5 is used for ‘sixth forms’. In some ways this has been the most difficult chapter to write. Moving from a period where photos and records are a little thin on the ground, the 1990s onwards has a surfeit of information and photographic record, aided by the exponential advances in computing power and digital photography. It would be inappropriate to imbalance the book by over-concentration on the most recent period, so a limit has been imposed, though this remains the longest of the chapters in the book. Though nationally education undergoes change every year from 1988 onwards, within the school a number of annual activities were introduced, which established a sense of stability and reinforced the cyclic nature of school life. These activities provide the subject of that the following pages, rather than the complexities of education as seen by government officials. SCHOOL PROSPECTUS 1998 A set of six aerial photos were taken in 1998, and the one below was used to provide the front cover for a new prospectus in September of that year. The inside of the prospectus was word processed and printed in house. This prospectus remained in place until a full colour commercially printed prospectus replaced it in 2004. MALTON SCHOOL 1989 – 2006 (A SPECIALIST SCIENCE COLLEGE FROM 2004)
Transcript
MALTON SCHOOL 1989 - 2006
PAGE 1
During this period, the school, along with its fellows in the rest
of the country, was subjected to more government-imposed
changes than at any time in previous years. The pace of change
was relentless, and initiative overload would be a common
complaint across the teaching profession.
The changes started with the National Curriculum, introduced
in the education act of 1988. It defined a common curriculum
for all students, who must study English, maths, science, art,
information technology, history, geography, music, design
technology, physical education, and PSHE (personal social and
health education.)
The act also re-defined what year groups were to be called.
First years became ‘year 7’, fifth years ‘year 11’. As so often is
the case in Britain, consistency did not prevail, so lower and
upper sixth formers became years 12 and 13, but were still
referred to as the sixth form. Education was split into four key
stages.
Key Stage 1: Years 1 to 2 (5-7 years old)
Key Stage 2: Years 3 to 6 (7-11 years old)
Key Stage 3: Years 7 to 9 (11-14 years old)
Key Stage 4: Years 10 to 11 (14-16 years old).
Again for some inexplicable reason, six stages were not created:
key stage 0 is often unofficially used to describe nursery and
reception, and key stage 5 is used for ‘sixth forms’.
In some ways this has been the most difficult chapter to write.
Moving from a period where photos and records are a little thin
on the ground, the 1990s onwards has a surfeit of information
and photographic record, aided by the exponential advances in
computing power and digital photography. It would be
inappropriate to imbalance the book by over-concentration on
the most recent period, so a limit has been imposed, though this
remains the longest of the chapters in the book.
Though nationally education undergoes change every year from
1988 onwards, within the school a number of annual activities
were introduced, which established a sense of stability and
reinforced the cyclic nature of school life. These activities
provide the subject of that the following pages, rather than the
complexities of education as seen by government officials.
SCHOOL PROSPECTUS 1998 A set of six aerial photos were taken in
1998, and the one below was used to
provide the front cover for a new
prospectus in September of that year.
The inside of the prospectus was word
processed and printed in house.
This prospectus remained in place
until a full colour commercially
printed prospectus replaced it in 2004.
MALTON SCHOOL
1989 – 2006 (A SPECIALIST SCIENCE COLLEGE FROM 2004)
MALTON SCHOOL 1989– 2006
PAGE 2
Right:
DAVID ROBERTS 1989 September 1989. A press photo taken
on arrival. The news story commented
on the need for an overcoat - because
of the journeys up and down the path
between the two wings. Picture courtesy York Evening Press
Left:
DAVID ROBERTS 2006 July 2006, in the Sixth Form garden,
just before retirement. Picture courtesy York County Press
DAVID ROBERTS
HEAD TEACHER 1989 - 2006
The new Head appointed on Mr Gresswell’s retirement was
David Roberts. He came from the position of deputy head at St
Aidan’s School in Harrogate, having previously taught in
Richmond and Nottingham. An Oxford graduate of modern
languages (German and Russian), he faced no small task in
taking the school forward through the myriad of changes to
come in the last decade of the century, and into the twenty-first
century.
Mr Roberts’ period in office saw building development in many
areas of the school, the most significant being the new library
and ICT suites, and latterly the new four-laboratory science
extensions at east wing. Accompanying this was another
change in status for Malton School, as specialist science status
was achieved in 2004.
Mr Roberts was instrumental in introducing local financial
Management (LFM), the flexibility of which allowed him to
work with school bursar Jean Howell on development and
improvement projects without constant reference to County
Hall and unwieldy, best-fit formulas.
MALTON SCHOOL 1989 - 2006
PAGE 3
I asked David about this major new initiative when I met him
on an occasion after his retirement. He commented:
Before control of funding was devolved to schools, they received
‘capitation’, an allowance for buying books and equipment; for
everything else we had to apply to County, and all paperwork done at
County. The first devolved budget was worked out by Jean [Howell] and
myself with a large sheet of squared paper, an eraser and a pocket
calculator. Local bank accounts for schools (BAFS) came later, in the mid
-nineties I think.
By the time I retired in 2006 schools were planning and implementing
their own budget, managing their own bank account and cash-flow and
inputting data directly into County’s payroll system.
Even allowing for inflation the period from 1997 – 2006 represents a
period of significant growth in funding for all secondary schools.
Numerous small scale developments were undertaken within
the relative freedom that LFM allowed: re-furbished food
technology rooms; conversion of the former youth annexe to a
vocational (GNVQ) centre, then to a music centre; conversion
of the former caretaker’s house to a print and reprographics
base; and installation of three network computer rooms.
There were two large building projects in David Roberts’ time,
both requiring major fundraising initiatives. The first was the
development of the former east wing kitchens and dining hall,
which in the early nineties were serving as art rooms, into a
new library; concurrent with this was the conversion of the old
library to an ICT (information and communications technology)
suite, and the rooms vacated on Music’s move to the Youth
Annexe, plus the “video room”, being converted into an Art
studio. The second was the building of a new four-laboratory
science block, which fulfilled a long-held desire to have all
science taught in one area, and brought the school into yet
another phase of its history, as it became designated as a
specialist science college.
SCIENCE STATUS 2003 Head of Upper School John Steel with
David Roberts, promoting the Appeal
to raise for £50000 in March 2003, a
necessary condition to be successful in
the bid for specialist status. Photo courtesy York Evening Press
MALTON SCHOOL 1989– 2006
PAGE 4
THE LIBRARY APPEAL 1999
The HMI report of 1960 commented on the inadequate size of
the library - housed in the old grammar school hall - and this
was for a school less than half the size of the comprehensive
school. The OFSTED inspection of 1996 made similar
comments.
The impetus to tackle this problem came in 1998, when totally
unexpectedly the school received a bequest of £18000 from a
former pupil, Alma Collier (née Knowles). She had not spent
long at Malton School: The Maltonian magazine of April 1928
records her coming, and the December edition of the same year
records her departure, as she left to join Whitby County School.
The school decided to use the bequest as the trigger for a much
larger capital project, and launched an appeal to raise £100000.
With this the art rooms were transformed into a new and
spacious library, capable of seating an entire class comfortably;
the old library became a thirty-workstation networked computer
room, and the art department moved to room 37, where the
music department had been, plus the large room known as “the
video room” (from the days when the school had one video
player, and classes were taken to this room to watch recorded
programmes). The small rooms in between were converted into
studio workspaces for sixth form artists.
Sir Marcus Worsley rekindled his family’s connections with the
school by agreeing to be patron of the appeal. Events were
organised, people were contacted, builders were contracted
(builder Clive Baxter and joiner Denis Mayman in particular
deserve mention), the money was raised, and the new facilities
were formally opened by Sir Marcus on 16 February 2000.
Above:
ALMA COLLIER. (1913-1997) A photo donated in 1998 by Mona Day
(née Skilbeck) from Ampleforth. It
shows Alma with a group from Gilling,
when she lived in the 1920s.
Below:
APPEAL NIGHT 1999 Sir Marcus Worsley with Head of IT
Nick Vagianos, at the fundraising
event. Students James Bramhall and
Simon Milson are demonstrating.
Bottom left:
ROOM 40 Th e n ew ICT ro o m f i t t ed o u t .
Incongruously named room 40 despite
being in the “thirties” corridor.
Bottom right:
THE LIBRARY 1991 Room 40 in its former guise as the
school library.
MALTON SCHOOL 1989 - 2006
PAGE 5
Top:
LIBRARY OPENING 2000 Jessica Leonard poses for the press
on completion of the new library.
Below left:
APPEAL POSTER 1999 A photo-montage poster created for
the fundraising appeal
Included are Joanne Savage,
Patrick Massey, Sarah Humphrey,
Daniel Foxton, Oliver Salisbury, Kerry
Partington, Bryony Davis, Lorna
Vasey, Claire Neill, Adam Turner, Ben
Richardson, Duncan Brown, Charlotte
Hawes , Sarah Dick inson , Jack
Atkinson, and Alan Goforth.
Below right:
LIBRARY OPENING 2000 Two s l id es f ro m a Po werpoin t
presentation shown on the library
opening night.
1. The new art studio
2. Clive Baxter at work on the new
library
Bottom right:
PRESS CALL Faith Burrows, Kimberley Thornley,
Andrew Richardson and Daniel
Aylward in the newly fitted library. Picture courtesy Gazette & Herald
MALTON SCHOOL 1989– 2006
PAGE 6
CUTTING THE FIRST TURF 13 February 2004
The year 7 house captains gather to
dig the first turf for the new science
block foundations.
Katherine Richardson, Emma Bean,
Tommy Leach and Spencer Ward.
Behind are David Roberts, Clare
Chapman (bursar), Danny Allison
( W r i g h t s ) , J o h n C o a t e s ( S i t e
manager), Richard Faiers (Wrights),
Neil Lavery (Quantity Surveyor)
SPECIALIST SCIENCE STATUS 2004
In 2002 it was decided that of all the new specialisms available
(which released additional funding), science would best suit the
school. Early planning discussions with architects were already
being held on new science labs. A key decision was that four
laboratories, not the two that NYCC proposed funding, would
be the target. An appeal was launched, with help on publicity
from the local press and Central Science Laboratories.
The conditions for achieving specialist status required that
£50000 was raised from local sponsors in support of the bid.
This target was reached with a couple of weeks to spare before
the deadline, and the first application was submitted. Initially
this was not accepted, but undeterred, a more clear-cut second
application with well-defined targets and objectives was
submitted in October. A government inspector arrived in
December to discuss the application and look at plans for site
improvements, and on 29 January 2004 the news was received
that the bid had been successful.
As a result of the change of status, the school gained a £100000
capital grant, enabling the completion of phase two of the new
science block – the two upstairs laboratories. Buildings were
completed by September 2004, and classes commenced lessons
in the new rooms after Christmas. A formal opening took place
in February 2005, when Dr Mike Diprose and Mr Mike Proctor
from the University of Sheffield gave the first of a series of
annual science lectures, the topic electricity and magnetism.
In addition £70000 a year extra funding for the next four years
was granted. Despite the specialist science designation, it was
decided to retain the school’s identity as Malton School, to
emphasise that the school remained a comprehensive school,
offering the full range of subjects as before.
SPECIALIST SCIENCE LOGO A lapel badge signifying the new status
MALTON SCHOOL 1989 - 2006
PAGE 7
Top:
SCIENCE BLOCK OPENING 20 January 2005
Director of Education for North
Yorkshire, Cynthia Welbourn, formally
o p en ed th e n ew b ui ld ing . . In
attendance were the chairman of
North Yorkshire County Council, Mr
John Dennis; his wife; the mayors of
Malton and Norton, Ann Hopkinson
and John Stone; Mrs Stone; and
C o u n c i l l o r G e o f f R e n n i e — a n
endowment governor and long -
standing supporter of the school.
Upper middle:
EAST WING JANUARY 2004 The site of the new building before
building work commenced.
Middle left:
FOOTINGS FEBRUARY 2004 Diggers move in on a snowy week to
dig the foundations of the new block.
Lower middle:
RAPID PROGRESS The builders made good progress,
nearing completion by September 2004
Middle right:
CONNECTING LINK The old stairs were removed and a link
to the new block was put in at ground
and first floor levels. New stairs and a
lift were built at the end of the new
block.
Bottom:
SCIENCE APPEAL 2003 Year 11 student Blair Young, posing
with a thin friend for the science
appeal brochure.
MALTON SCHOOL 1989– 2006
PAGE 8
Below:
RETIREMENT 1993 Philip Mason and Hugh Spencer with
their wives, about to cut their
retirement cake.
Bottom left:
OFSTED REPORT 2002
Jean Howell in her final year, with
David Roberts and Head Girl and Boy
Phillippa Chapman and Mark Wylie.
They are posing for the press with the
very complimentary OFSTED report.
Courtesy Ryedale Mercury (JPG)
Bottom middle:
MATHS GROUP 2003 Maths teachers past and present
gathered at the Crown and Cushion,
Welburn, to mark the end Richard
Hilton’s 22 years service to the school.
Around the table: Alan Martindale,
Philip Mason, Richard Hilton,
Carol Peters, George Rowntree,
Janet Mason, Della Hayward,
Stephen Fearnley
Bottom right:
STAINDALE 1995 Roger Thomas, John Horsman and
Davina Burn, begging for a
photograph on a Year 10 residential
trip to the Yorkshire Dales.
THE STAFF
On arrival, David Roberts had a mix of well-established staff
and relatively new recruits. There were still ‘grammar school
staff’ and ‘county modern staff’ working at the school, and
there was still more than a hint of the east – west divide.
Philip Mason had come to the school as a student in 1960, and
left in 1993 as deputy head, having been head of maths for a
number of years along the way. His entire teaching career had
thus taken place at Malton School, spanning one hundred terms.
At the same time Hugh Spencer departed after twenty-three
years at school: head of history, teacher of economics, and in
charge of general studies.
Roger Thomas had arrived with Hugh Spencer in the final year
of the grammar school ( 1970-71), and served as head of PE,
and in parallel with this role, head of upper school from 1988 to
his retirement in 1998. ‘Taf’ saw generations through to
success in their GCSE exams and further careers, and many
boys testify to their love of sport stemming from the many
hours of extra curricular time he devoted to practice and
competition. He shunned publicity to the point of obsession,
but the success of sports teams under his leadership was much
greater than one might expect from a small rural school.
Peter Lees and Davina Burn had come to Malton as deputy
heads in 1984, from Nidderdale and Portslade respectively.
Peter Lees retired in the early 1990s, and Davina Burn at
Christmas 1994. I had been appointed as second deputy in 1993
to replace Philip Mason, and became sole deputy on Davina’s
retirement, Deborah Green being appointed to the head of lower
school role vacated by Davina, as a Senior Teacher.
Of the non-teaching staff, Jean Howell retired as school bursar
in 2002, having started as a technician in 1979, and Jennie
Capstick retired as school secretary in December 2004, having
arrived in 1981. A significant change in the balance of staffing
took place during David Roberts’ time as head - ‘workforce
reform’ - as more and more jobs that teachers had undertaken
were assigned to non-teaching staff. By 2006 a third of the
workforce at school was non-teaching staff
MALTON SCHOOL 1989 - 2006
PAGE 9
Alan Robinson had started at the grammar school with Roger
Thomas in 1970, and retired after thirty-six years in the summer
of 2006 having taught French to many hundreds of Malton
students, and adults at evening classes, over this period. Peter
Eggleston was the only remaining county modern teacher in
1989; he taught metalwork, or ‘design technology’ as it had
become, together with some mathematics, and was head of the
adult education centre until 1993.
A group of five young teachers had started in 1971, and
worked at the school until their retirement. Shirley Smith had
arrived as head of commercial studies, and developed from
teaching typing to introducing word processing, seeing
numerous school-students and adults through RSA exams on
quirky Amstrad green-screen computers before retiring in 1996.
John Dunstan became head of geography in 1988, retiring
through ill-health in 2001. John had led many field trips in his
time at the school, as well as contributing to ski trips, choir, and
so much more. Richard Hilton became head of mathematics,
retiring in 2003. Richard had been instrumental in introducing
computing to school in the early days. Keith Williams became
head of biology, and retired in 2004, having made an enormous
contribution to outdoor pursuits at school, leading camping trips
and watersports holidays for numerous students over the years.
The fifth young recruit was David Ewing, who became head of
lower school, then head of sixth form following Eddie Lucas’s
departure in 1988, a post he was still carrying out with unfailing
energy as this book was written in 2008.
Top:
J E N N I E C A P S T I C K 2 0 0 4
S c h o o l s e c r e t a r y , c u t t i n g h e r
retirement cake at the end of the
autumn term, 2004.
Above:
OLD COLLEAGUES David Ewing and John Dunstan at the
school’s art exhibition in 2006
STAFF PHOTO 2001 Dave Ewing, Terry Reed, Sheila Amburey (supply), Jenny Johnston, John Horsman, Barry Miller, Russell Mason, Richard Hilton,
Graham James, Keith Williams, Ian Turner, Alan Robinson, Cliff Reddyhoff, Liam Harvey, Martin Sibley
David Roberts, Ellen Sayle, Ian Martin, Stewart Thorp, Tracey Robinson, Heather Parrish, Pat Lovegrove, Sue Goddard,
Christine Smith, Ann Lester, Carol Peters, Miriam Hall, Sue Connor
Sharon Mort, June Dennis, Julie Dowson–Boyes, Helen Cooper, Eileen Howell, Ann-Margaret Hetherton, Juliet Baker, Suzanne
Jarvis, Pippa Dore, Della Hayward, Pat Horsman, Jill Boothman, Diana Morgan
Having organised this rare staff photo whilst Tempest were in taking year 11 photographs, I duly missed the call, absent ill! Photo courtesy Tempest Photography.
MALTON SCHOOL 1989– 2006
PAGE 10
post 16 opportunities for Malton and Norton
EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS
I should mention a few of the initiatives brought in during this
period both locally and nationally. When I arrived in 1993
Norton School (as it was then) were proposing their own sixth
form, with head teacher Peter Barton claiming that introducing
the International Baccalaureate would increase opportunity in
the area. Over the next three years many discussions (and
arguments) between the two schools took place, with
suggestions ranging through demolition of both schools and the
building of a new twelve-hundred student school on a
greenfield site, the two schools to merge with one site
becoming 11-14 and the other 14-19, shared teaching with
teachers moving between sites - which did happen for two years
in Physics and English - and students being bussed across towns
for different courses. All plans proved too costly to NYCC, or
too contentious to the schools, and the status quo remained until
the LSC (Learning Skills Council) announced in 2006 that they
would fund the building of a sixth form centre at Norton
College in 2008, expanding provision for vocational courses in
the area. At the time of writing this book the four Ryedale
schools were working in partnership to try and provide a
breadth of opportunity for their students, with shared courses
from year 10 upwards.
Nationally the government could not decide what to call its
education ministry: the DES (Department for Education and
Science) created in 1964 became the DfEE (Education and
Employment) in 1995, the DFES in 2001 (Education and
Skills), and DCSF (Children Schools and Families) in 2007.
Not knowing what to call themselves is perhaps reflective of
policy and direction in these years, with the only certainty in
education being that there would be change, every year, and
that is certainly what was experienced by the teaching force and
the students.
Below:
PROSPECTUS 2004 S i x t h f o r m a n d m a i n s c h o o l
prospectuses. I designed these using a
mathematical model of a truncated
icosahedron, reflecting the new status
as science and maths specialists.
They were printed commercially by
HPE Print in Pickering.
Right:
POST-16 OPPORTUNITIES A joint prospectus was produced in
1994 when Malton and Norton were
cooperating on Sixth Form provision,
with Norton hosting some post-16
vocational courses, and three Norton
staff teaching A-level at Malton. The
photo shows a 1996 edition, with Will
Lund, Lucy Hodsman, Claire Evans
and Richard Oakes.
MALTON SCHOOL 1989 - 2006
PAGE 11
EXAMINATIONS
Despite much discussion about the appropriateness or otherwise
of GCSE and A level, these two exam models remained the
standard for 16-year olds and 18-year olds throughout this
period. An A* grade was introduced at GCSE in 1994, to
distinguish between good and excellent A-grade performance.
Advanced Subsidiary (AS) exams were brought in for 17-year
olds in 2000: qualifications in their own right, but also a
halfway stage in the A-level course, taken at the end of year 12.
In 1995 National Curriculum Tests, often called SATs
(Standard Assessment Tests), were introduced for all children
aged seven, eleven and fourteen (tests for seven year olds were
first tried in 1991). There was disquiet amongst teachers and
others about the amount of testing going on, that it was creating
undue stress in children and that our young people were the
most tested children in the world.
In 1996 GNVQs (General National Vocational Qualifications)
were offered as a more work-related alternative for less-
academic students - health and social care GNVQ was offered
at Malton. In the ensuing years the government worked hard to
fix parity of esteem and value to vocational and academic
qualifications. In 1997 the national literacy strategy, aimed at
raising standards to those of the UK's main competitors, is
introduced. The national numeracy strategy followed.
Performance in exams at Malton School improved year on year,
with frequent headlines of ‘best ever results.’ At A level the
pass rate rose from 65% in 1992 to 96% in 2007, and A and B
grades from 16% to 53% in the same period. At GCSE level
those gaining 5 or more grade C’s rose from 45% to 69%.
Top:
SATS EXAMS 2000 Year 9 sit their SATs exams in the West
Wing Hall, May 2000.
Below:
A LEVEL SUCCESS Michael Spencer and Sarah Dickinson
celebrate on results day, 15 August
2002. Picture courtesy Gazette & Herald
Bottom left:
A LEVEL RESULTS 2001 Philip Hayton, James Bramhall, Ian
Pullan, Richard Jackson, Katie
Aylmer, Angela Bray
Bottom right:
GCSE RESULTS 2003 Results were collected annually from
west wing hall on the third Thursday
in August.
MALTON SCHOOL 1989– 2006
PAGE 12
Examinations were not the only indicators of success in the
school. Students competed in and won tournaments and
competitions; they made the most of their talents by working
with other outside organisations beyond school; they were
granted scholarships; they successfully applied for places at the
top universities in the country; At a high point in the 1990s 75%
of sixth formers were leaving and taking up a university place.
(This number declined a little as more took up the possibilities
of a ‘gap year’ - deferring entry for a year to go travelling or
working to raise money to support themselves at university.)
The next two pages offer just a few photos that were too good
to miss out, from the pages of the local press in the early 1990s
as the newspapers covered a selection of the achievements of
studnets from Malton School.
Top left:
ROBERT WILSON 1993 Robert was awarded an £1800 open
scholarship to read Geology at
Aberystwyth University—the highest
award on offer. Photo courtesy York Evening Press
Top right:
RACHAEL LAMB 1994 Rachael was one of the first students to
study on a flexible basis, combining A
levels with dance training outside of
school. When she left she went to work
as a dancer on a cruise ship Photo courtesy Gazette & Herald
Bottom left:
BERNARD WEST
AND KATY BIRKS 1994 Both students were offered Oxbridge
places—Bernard a much-prized organ
scholarship a t Gir ton College,
Cambridge, and Katy to read English
Literature at St Catherine’s College,
Oxford. Photo courtesy York Evening Press
Bottom right:
TIM LAWES 1994 Tim with veteran bandsman Ray
Dalton from Swinton and District
Excelsior Band, an organsiation which
has provided a musical outlet for many
students over the years, as well as the
loan of a tuba now and again!
Tim left with straight A’s, and took
time out to travel before going on to
university. He committed himself to
working to provide low cost healthcare
to children in and around Kolkota in
India. Photo courtesy York Evening Press
MALTON SCHOOL 1989 - 2006
PAGE 13
Top:
GCSE SUCCESS 1994 Cathy Bailey, Tom Higgins, Caroline
Ledbetter and Nicky Allenby line up to
celebrate receiving their GCSE
certificates in December 1994. Photo courtesy Gazette and Herald
Middle:
JACQUI CROZIER 1993 Sixth former Jacqui celebrating
winning the Whitby Eskdale Festival of
Arts trophy for the open piano recital,
for the third consecutive year. Schools
are always grateful to those who tutor
individuals outside of school—in this
case Margaret Chalcroft. Photo courtesy York Evening Press
Bottom:
DAVID SMITH AND EMMA
WAINWRIGHT 1993 Sixth formers David and Emma
celebrating their success in the UK
Maths Chal lenge, the best two
performers in this annual national
competition. Students still compete in
this annual event, and every year the
school has a number of students
receiving gold awards. Occasionally a
student manages to qualify for the next
round amongst the top three hundred
or so in the country - as was the case
with David in 1993. Photo courtesy Gazette and Herald
MALTON SCHOOL 1989– 2006
PAGE 14
COMPUTING
Computers were a key factor in many elements of relentless
change in this period. With processing power increasing
exponentially, it became possible to store and analyse large
quantities of data about each student and their progress. And
this could be done at various levels – at the individual level, the
school level, across the LEA, and nationally. National league
tables were introduced in the early 1990s, and all students were
given UPN’s (Unique Pupil Numbers) in 2000, allowing the
government to track their progress almost from cradle to grave.
The headmaster’s reports of previous years, where the
September comment on exam success often consisted of
“results were quite good”, were replaced by pages of tables, the
content of which was prescribed by government, offering a
bewildering multitude of statistical indicators to digest.
Computers spread around the school in the classrooms and the
offices. In 1992, typing teacher Shirley Smith began the change
over from typing to word processing, and room 20 was fitted
out with a set of Amstrad word processors. These had
idiosyncratic green and white screens, with individual printers,
but hundreds of students - in the 11-18 age group and adults
attending the evening centre – learnt their keyboarding and
processing skills on these workhorses under Shirley’s
supervision. At the same time other areas of the school were
using BBC Micros, which were being superseded by Acorn
Archimedes RISCOS machines by 1992 . IT (Information
Technology) skills lessons were on the timetable by 1993.
In 1995 the school installed its first computer network: a
Research Machines RM NetLM using 486 processors operating
at 66MHz. The network operated across the school, with
twenty-five workstations in room 20, six stations in the library,
one in the careers room, and one in the geography department
(room 6). The two wings were joined by a fibre optic cable
link. The school newsletter was proud to boast that every
student and member of staff had 500k storage capacity on the
system! Ten years later a single digital image could require
eight times that amount, and the unit of currency for describing
storage capacity had moved up to gigabytes, - terabytes for the
main servers.
Below, in order:
ROOM 40 NETWORK Kim Thornley and Sharelle Davidson
with new PC machines in 2000
LAPTOP COMPUTER Sixth formers interrogating a lap-top
(whilst on a residential maths course
at Danby Fryup)
BBC MICRO Pierce Macmahon with a BBC ModelB
- note the 5-inch floppy discs, which
usually stored 40K of data, 80K if you
were lucky enough to have ‘double
density’. These workhorses first
appeared in 1982, with 16 colours, 8-
bit processor and 16Kb memory in the
Model A, 32Kb in a Model B.
RM 486 PC I think these are Ben Beresford, Chris
Smith and David Keeling with one of
the new PC’s in 1995
ACORN ARCHIMEDES Stephen Mason with an excellent
machine that lost out to the relentless
power of the PC marketing drive.
MALTON SCHOOL 1989 - 2006
PAGE 15
Below left:
GRAHAM MAGEE Graham attended Malton School as a
student, then returned as a science
technician. As computers appeared in
school he did more and more with
them, until he finally became solely
employed as an ICT technician. He
was responsible for the first two
networks operating in school.
Below right:
S H I R L E Y S M I T H 1 9 9 8 Shirley came originally as a typing
and office studies teacher in 1971. As
computers appeared she developed
w o r d p r o c e s s i n g a n d C L A I T
(Computer Literacy And Information
Technology) courses for school and
adult students. She is pictured at the
ICT appeal night in 1998 - having
retired from school teaching in 1996.
Bottom left:
MALTONSCHOOL.ORG The school website developed and
maintained by Graham Magee since
the late 1990s
Bottom right:
MALTONIANS WEB A website developed and maintained
by myself, holding all the photographs
and documents from the school’s past,
and allowing people across the globe
to keep in touch.
Towards the end of the 1990s IT became ICT (the C being
communication), as the internet became more accessible, user
friendly and valuable. The school had an internet connection
across its network from 1997, which became a broadband
connection in 2002.
Data projectors appeared from 2000, allowing classes to see
computer resources on a large screen, and coincidentally photo
slide shows and information-giving presentations to be mounted
using “Powerpoint” - a program which allowed text and
pictures to be presented in a series of slides. The data projector
was put to particularly popular good use in 2002, when live
coverage of England’s world cup tie with Nigeria was shown to
students in west wing hall. The match started at 7.30am,.the
kitchen staff laid on drinks and bacon sandwiches, and the hall
was packed. This was repeated for the match, a week later,
against Brazil. Sadly the results were not as good as the
Saturday match - England 3, Denmark 0 - and Brazil’s 2-1 win
over England allowed them to go on be eventual world
champions. Interactive whiteboards, allowing teachers to
manipulate their computer resources from their board, began to
be installed in classrooms in 2004.
By the time of writing this book, the school had four fully
networked ICT rooms, plus two mobile trolleys of laptops;
there were two full time ICT technicians; all staff had their own
laptop; registration was being carried out each lesson
electronically; school events were being recorded on hard-drive
digital video and saved to DVD; almost all rooms had data
projectors, the west wing hall had a three-metre wide back-
projection screen used for assemblies and presentations, and
van-loads of obsolete machinery were being disposed of termly,
as the pace of change made once much-prized equipment out of
date and inadequate within three years.
MALTON SCHOOL 1989– 2006
PAGE 16
HEAD BOY AND GIRL, AND DEPUTIES
After an absence of some years, it was decided to re-introduce
the offices of head boy and girl in 2001. From my point of
view, I felt that deputies have a valuable role to play, so four
responsibility posts were created. There was discussion about
whether the students should be chosen from the main school or
the sixth form. Main school was preferred, allowing younger
students the opportunity to take responsibility in the final year
of compulsory education, and allowing those who may not
proceed to sixth form the opportunity to serve.
It was also decided that the group would be elected rather than
selected, and a ballot of staff and year 10 students (with equal
voting rights between staff and students) was duly held in the
May of year 10, with students taking up their office in June, to
run until their study leave the following June. Responsibilities
included presenting the annual celebration evening in
November, organising the year 11 ‘prom’ in May, representing
the school at key events, and occasionally (particularly the 2006
-7 incumbents) promoting fundraising for charity. All students
have excelled in all these tasks, and have been a credit to the
school.
SENIOR STUDENTS (SIXTH FORM)
The following year ‘senior students’ posts were created for the
sixth form, with responsibilities to include presenting the
Christmas and Easter shows, organisation of whole-school
charity fundraising and representing the sixth form at key
events. Once again students were elected by their year group.
By 2006 the format had settled to three students from each of
year 12 and year 13, allowing an election of three new faces in
year 12 each year.
Below:
HEAD BOY AND GIRL 2002-3 N i k k i F r e e r (D e p u t y ) , S o p h i e
Gilderdale, John Hodgson and Daniel
Bulmer with the celebration evening
trophies. Courtesy Gazette and Herald (YEP)
Bottom left:
The group again, but this time dressed
for presenting the celebration evening.
Bottom Right:
HEAD BOY AND GIRL 2001-2 Sofie Buckland (deputy), Mark Wylie
(Head Boy), Phillippa Chapman
(Head Girl) and Nick Dean (deputy) Courtesy Ryedale Mercury (JPG)
MALTON SCHOOL 1989 - 2006
PAGE 17
Top left:
The first senior students: Matthew Bulmer, Adam Turner, Laura
Grassi, Claire White, presenting the 2003 Easter Film Night Show
Top right:
Senior Students presenting the 2005 Christmas Show
Gary Hall, Shona McSkeane, Peter Clarke
Upper middle:
2004-5 Olivia Buckland (Deputy), Ross Harrison (head boy),
Sally Fothergill (head girl) and Jack Davies (deputy) Photo courtesy Gazette and Herald (YEP)
Lower middle:
2003-4 Darren Allanson, Rachel McCulloch (deputies),
Rachael I’Anson (head girl), and Peter Bowring (head boy) presenting
